I'm feeling a bit stifled in my city and want to move. My priorities are $1500-2000/mo rent and a path to an affordable house (see: picture), a unionised city workforce, good greenspace with an extensive parks system, good biking infrastructure, a good public university, and a good political scene. That leaves Portland, Minneapolis, Chicago, and maybe an East Coast city I haven't researched yet. Of those, Portland is at the top of my list because I'm getting an ocean for Great Lakes prices.
What's bad about the city that makes people move away? Is there a better option in Oregon, especially one that would let me commute into Portland without whatever problems it has?
I'm not in Portland but I have friends there, one of whom is a mycologist and is otherwise extremely cool and smart. Still need to go visit her (probably during Portland pizza week because I am a pizza friend).
The fungi of the PNW, and that whole evergreen rainforest ecosystem, is the biggest draw of the region to me. I love high elevation foraging in Colorado but only the western half of the state has a reliable season for it. Last year I found a single porcini in my otherwise reliable sites because the Rockies make a rain shadow over the eastern half.